Tag: cold weather experiments

Minnesota, it’s so cold that… you can build a house out of bricks made from ice (if it stays cold long enough). I attempted this one two different winters and failed both times. Stay tuned for my bigger and better idea this year!

I attempted this one twice and a stretch of warm weather killed the project both times. This year I’ve got a new idea that hopefully will work well!

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Minnesota, it’s so cold that… you can build an ice rink in your backyard. This video shows how to make a backyard ice rink and how to add a logo to a DIY hockey rink. Special thanks to Dan & Lucy Olson and their ice skating kids!

Everyone loves to ice skate. Now you can make your own rink in your yard with these instructions!

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Minnesota, it’s so cold that… you can spray down your playground to turn it into an ice castle (almost). This one didn’t turn out so well, but it was still fun to give the idea a try. Maybe given a little more time… Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

I was hoping that this one would have worked better than it did. Oh well, sometimes that’s the way it goes…

Minnesota, it’s so cold that… you can make candle holders, bowls, and vases out of ice. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

If you’re looking for some fun ideas for ice decorations for your Super Bowl party, try making these ice orb candle holders made out of ice, bowls made out of ice, and vases made out of ice for your frozen flowers.

Minnesota Cold Part 19A shows you how to make Frozen Ice Glasses and Frozen Ice Bowls.

Minnesota Cold Part 20 show you how to make Ice Luminaries for your winter party.

Minnesota, it’s so cold that… if you throw a pot of boiling water off a seven story building, it vaporizes before it hits the ground. Watch and subscribe to the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: http://www.youtube.com/nziegler . Special thanks to Steve Carlisle for his assistance in this video.

Materials:

Pot of boiling water

A very high building

A really cold day

Steps:

Boil a large pot of water on the stove or on a burner. (You may have to reheat it when you get to the top floor.)

On the roof of a very tall building, carefully approach the edge.

Throw the pot of water off the edge of the building.

Helpful Hints:

Make sure that it is a building that people do not walk next to. If not all of the water vaporizes, you may burn someone with the boiling water.

Have someone watch it from below (not directly below). That’s the best view.

Minnesota, it’s so cold that… if you forget your flowers outside, they’ll freeze overnight and shatter in the morning. Special thanks to Chicago-Lake Floral in Minneapolis for the donation of the flowers. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

Flowers

A hard surface outside to shatter the flowers

Cold weather

Steps:

Pick up some flowers from the local flower shop.

Set the flowers outside for several hours or overnight.

Smash the flowers on your sidewalk for a great effect.

Helpful Hints:

Ask your florist for flowers that they are going to throw out for the weekend (you might get them for free).

Minnesota, it’s so cold that… you can make a human snowball out of frozen towels and roll it down the hill with someone inside. Special thanks to Hugh Brown for going into the human snowball and Steve Carlisle for helping shoot some of the video. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

Large inflatable ball

Thin towels

Camping chairs

Watering can

Knife

Large hill

Cold temperatures

Steps:

Inflate a large inflatable ball. Start in the house, then move outside.

Cover the ball with layers of wet towels.

Cut a hatch in the towels so you can get in and out.

Pour water over the towels until a thicker layer of ice has formed (about 15 times).

Cut the hatch back open and bring your human snowball to a large hill.

Put someone inside of the human snowball (with a helmet), then cover the hatch with a wet towel.

Push them down the hill and help them get out if the ball doesn’t break.

Repeat if the ball isn’t crushed.

Helpful Hints:

Make sure it’s really cold. The towels and layers of ice freeze much faster that way.

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… you can freeze your trampoline and jump from your garage to break it. *** Warning. Please do not try this one at home. *** Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… you can make a piñata with water instead of paste. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

A large bag of candy

3 balloons

Paper towels, cut in strips

Warm water in a bowl

3 shallow pans or large plates

Knife and/or scissors

String

Marker

Baseball bat

Steps:

Blow up the three balloons, making one large, one medium, and one small one.

Dip the strips of paper towel in the warm water and cover the balloons. Use the pans or large plates to catch the water under each balloon. Cover the balloons completely with a layer of paper towels.

Repeat Step 2, this time placing the strips at a perpendicular angle to the first layer of paper towels. When finished, the balloons should have two layers of paper towels.

Set the balloons outside to freeze.

Once frozen, bring the balloons back inside. Cut a rectangular flap on each of them and remove the deflated balloon from inside the frozen paper towels sphere. For the largest sphere, keep the tail of the balloon on it so you can later tie the string to it.

Take a long piece of string and tie it to the end of the largest sphere. Cut two small holes on each end of the other two balloons. String together the spheres so they are stacked in a column of three, looking like a snowman. Leave extra string on the top.

Stuff the parts with candy and cover the openings with more paper towels.

Using a marker, draw on the snowman’s face on the top and smallest balloon. Add doodles.

With the extra string at the top, hang up the snowman piñata. Take the bat and have at it!

Helpful Hints:

Make sure the balloons are entirely covered with the paper towel strips when coating them.

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… you can make your own slurpees outside. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

2-liter bottle of pop of your choice

Knife

Cup

Steps:

Set outside the bottle of pop. Put it in the snow to get cold but do not let it begin turning into a solid.

While the pop is still liquid in the bottle, remove the cap while still outside. The liquid should quickly turn into a slushy. The time it takes varies greatly depending on the temperature. At -10 degrees Fahrenheit on the cement or in the snow, it takes less than an hour and a half to go from room temperature to slurpee.

Bring it inside, let it thaw for a moment, and then cut off the top of the bottle and pour the slushy into a cup.

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… you can go bowling outside with a watermelon. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

10 empty 2-liter bottles

Water

Food coloring

Watermelon

Permanent marker

Knife

Steps:

Fill the ten 2-liter bottles with water, then add about five drops of food coloring into the water of the bottles. Put the bottle caps back on. Set all of the bottles outside to freeze.

On your watermelon, mark three dots for finger holes. Cut out the holes with a knife, draining the watermelon as you do so. (Some water will be inside, of course.) Bring the watermelon outside to freeze as well.

Once the water in the bottles are frozen solid and the watermelon is hard, set up your “pins” and go bowling!

Helpful Hints:

When cutting the holes for your fingers in the watermelon, keep in mind your finger size with gloves on, so make the holes somewhat larger than you would for your fingers normally.

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… you can build an igloo and stand on it by just shoveling a bunch of snow into a pile and hollowing it out. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

Shovel

A lot of snow

Steps:

Shovel together a large mound of snow. Let it harden for a few hours after making it.

Use the shovel to hollow it out inside, creating an entrance and then taking most of the snow out from inside of the mound. Leave it to freeze for a little while longer.

Once it is frozen solid, go and stand on the igloo! It shouldn’t break.

Helpful Hints:

It needs to be quite cold for this to work. Negative temps are ideal.

Try to jump on it and break it when you are done.

For additional fun, wire a TV to your Quinzhee and enjoy some hot chocolate outside while watching the Olympics:

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… you can freeze a t-shirt into a ball and shatter it against a wall (or at least you can try). This one didn’t work! Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

T-shirt

Pot of boiling water

Tongs or other utensil

Gloves

Steps:

Bring the pot of boiling water outside and dip the t-shirt in the water until it is soaked.

Remove the shirt and wring it out. Roll it into a ball.

Leave it to freeze until it is solid.

Throw it against a wall and watch it shatter.

Helpful Hints:

The t-shirt was very hot when I was wringing out, so be sure to be careful.

I couldn’t get the t-shirt to shatter, but it still made a good ball. If you managed to get it to shatter, let me know in the comments!

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… you can freeze a towel and go sledding on it. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

An old towel

3 large paint cans

A bowl of warm water

A hill to sled down

Steps:

Dip the old towel in the bucket of water until it is completely wet.

Lay the towel flat on the ground outside.

Set the paint cans adjacently near one end of the towel, and fold the end of the towel over the cans to create a curve when the towel freezes.

Leave the towel until it is frozen solid. Slide the cans out from the towel. Lean the towel-sled against a wall and pour the second bucket of water onto the bottom of the sled to make it slick. Leave it out for a while longer, overnight if you would like.

Find a good snowy hill and head down on your sled!

Helpful Hints:

Make sure the sidewalk is cleared of snow to make the under-surface more smooth.

Your sidewalk will have a patch of ice after dumping the last layers of water over the sled. You may want to do this last step somewhere away from your sidewalk.

Minnesota – It’s so cold that… your hair freezes if you don’t dry it before going outside. I somehow talked my wife into helping me with this one. Watch and subscribe all of the Minnesota Cold Weather Experiments: www.youtube.com/nziegler .

Materials:

A wet head of hair (or a wife that puts up with your Minnesota Cold antics!)

Steps:

After your shower, forgo the blow dryer or even a towel if you are brave. Make sure your hair is wet. (All the low-maintenance people rejoice.)

Go into the cold outdoors with your wet hair for a minute. Your hair will freeze!

Helpful Hints:

Hang upside down for an especially visible outcome.

Make sure your wife loves you a lot before asking for help with this one.